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AN ORATION, 



DELIVERED AT SCHAdHTICOKE, N. Y 



HlI.Y THE F0[ RTH. 



NDRKD AM) SEVKl 



ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICAN 
INDEPENDENCE, 







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AN ORATION, 



DELIVERED AT SCHAGHTICOKE, N. Y. 



JULY THE FOURTH, 



EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SIX, 



THE ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICAN 
- 'INDEPENDENCE, 



JOSEPH FOSTER KNICKERBACKER. 



VI^^-A.T S/ESrTJBIjIC-A.. 



TROY, N. Y.: 

Edward Green, Printer, 214 River Street 

1876. 




CORRESPONDENCE. 



ScHAGHTicoKE, July I3tli, 1876. 
J. F. Knickobacker, Esq. : 

Dear Sir — At a meeting of the citizens of tliis historic old town, 
the undersigned were chosen a Committee to solicit a copy of your elo- 
quent and instructive Oration, delivered at Baker's Hall, July 4th, 1876, 
that the same may be published, and find a lodging place in the libraries 
and on the center tables of the present generation, and thereby be 
handed down to their posterity as a record which will be referred to 
with great interest by them. 

Very Respectfully Yours, 

JOSEPH Mcelroy, Jr., 

CLARK C. HILL, 
LORENZO BAKER, 
Dr. ROBT. HORNBROOK, 
JAMES NUTT, 
Dr. E. N BEALE, 
^ MICHAEL McGRATH, 

S. S. CONGDON, 
E. F. FROST, 
ALPHONZO MERRILL, 
ELIHU BUTTS. 

SCHAGHTICOKE, July 15, 1876. 
Gentlemen : 

In complying with your kind request, soliciting a copy of my Cen- 
tennial address, delivered at Schaghticoke, on the fourth day of July, 
inst., I do so willingly, and yet with reluctance. Willingly, as the ora- 
tion contains some allusions to our beloved old town, which, under the 
circumstances, I feel you have a right to expect from me, and at the 
same time, I do so with reluctance, from the fact of a dreaded compari- 
son with the many far abler productions our late commemoration has 
called forth, and that have already been published. And also, for the 
well known reason that the effect produced by a discourse, when heard 
as it falls from the orator, is very different from what the same appears 
when perused on the printed page. 

I have the honor to be, gentlemen, very respectfully yours, 

J. F. KNICKERBACKER. 
To Messrs. AIcElroy, Hill, Baker, Hornhrook, Nut/, Beak, McGrath, 

Congdon, Frost, Alerrill, and Butts, Co/iiinittee. 



ORATION. 



Fellow-Citizens : 

At last the dayspring from on high has ushered in this 
long anticipated, fondly welcomed morning. The cannon's 
roar booming across the continent from its remotest bor- 
ders, has in one concerted resonance borne upward to the 
sky our token-sign of greeting. The united tones of a 
hundred thousand belfries, in rich acclaim, chimed forth 
their pa^Ans commemorative of the glorious advent. From 
city, village, and far-distant wilderness ; yea, from myriad 
homesides within these broad domains, is heard the jubilant 
of praise ; while the glad hearts of forty million freemen 
beat in unison to the laudatory : All hail to the dawn of 
the centennial anniversary of American Independence ! 

Nor yet here, does the ovation cease ! All nations send 
hitherward their cordial congratulations. And oh ! what 
an august pageant, my countrymen, is thus exhibited upon 
earth! Where before in all the annals of the past, has 
there been such a signal given of universal brotherhood 
among the peoples ? And what a sublime picture do we 
present to the eyes of the world as a memorial record for 
the ages of the future. 

Let us for a moment pass in imagination to the not far 
off city of Philadelphia, and witness the scenes in and 
about the ancient Statehouse, where the event we com- 
memorate originated ; and where our broad-famed charter 
of liberty was formed, just one hundred years ago to-day. 
And we may behold there assembled, to grace the occasion : 
the President of the Republic surrounded by his principal 
Councillors of state; the chief Judges; the Senators and 
Representatives in Congress ; the commanding officers of 
the Army and Navy ; the foreign Ministers; the Governors 
of our different commonwealths ; the many distinguished 



6 

guests from abroad, and from among our own people ; all 
convened in festival array for the august ceremonial ; while 
superadded to this scene of our national rejoicing, arises the 
grand spectacle of an International Exposition. 

And as if in magic sjjace of time, as if by magic means, 
the long unheeded sands of earth and once despised weeds, 
have been by the skillful art of man transformed into plates 
of clearest crystal, and the rough, missha])en lumps of ore, 
delved from the mountain-side, by his plastic hand been 
wrought into the graceful column and symmetrical arch, all 
of which, being fitly framed together, are moulded into 
stately, harmonic edifices ; crystal palaces ! from the summit 
of which are floating to the breezes in peacefulness and 
unity, the banners of all nations — christianized, civilized 
and barbarous. AVhile within these spacious structures are 
collected the wonders of the age, the accumulated triumphs 
of this nineteenth century of Christendom. The rarities 
of nature and the achievements of art; the gorgeous, the 
simple, the tasteful, the delicate ; the cunning devices, the 
elaborate designs, the consummated results ; the useful, the 
beautiful, the luxurious, the grand ; the couches of ease 
and the weapons of death ; the rich tapestries and embroi- 
deries, the costly fabrics in blue, and purple, and crimson ; 
the precious stones; the devices in silver and the devices 
in gold : the carved works, the paintings, the statuary ; the 
implements of wood, of iron, of steel, of brass ; the 
machinery to till the earth, to reap the grains, to weave the 
fabrics, to propel the enginery ; the discoveries in science ; 
the achievements in knowledge ; the wonders of invention, 
and the creations of genius ; of this era of humanity, in 
beautiful arrangement, have been collected there. And 
may we not rejoice in all the fullness of our joy, as thoughts 
and emotions within us rise that fill our hearts with bro- 
therly love, and lift our souls to lieaven in thankfulness and 
praise, when we behold around us that mighty concourse, 
of thousands and tens of thousands, of all peoples, and 
nations, and climes; of every language, and caste, and hue; 
in unity, good-will and concord, come hither to contend for 
the prize of manual skill, the artizan's wreath, the chaplet 



to the honor of diligence, and for the crown of peaceful 
glory. 

And what, fellow-citizens, through the movement of 
events, may be the future destiny of our country ; whether 
or not another centennial morn shall greet us as a Republic 
we cannot tell. But whatever shall constitute the condition 
of things one hundred years from now, be assured that the 
surroundings of this commemoration will always continue 
conspicuous upon the page of history, as a memorial for 
the eyes of mankind. Like the scene of the Deluge ; like 
the passage of the Red Sea; like the fall of Babylon; like 
the battle of Marathon; like the building of Solomon's 
temple ; like the incoming of Christianity ; like the discov- 
ery of America; like all the more important epochs of the 
world ; the deeds of this day, and the glorious auspices 
which attended it, will be wafted adown the flood of time 
until the advent of the Archangel's trump ! 

One hundred years ago, my friends, and how different 
was the scene presented within the (at that time) small 
town of Philadelphia, compared with the triumphal pageant- 
ry witnessed there to-day. For then, a spirit of solemnity 
and of sacred responsibility, pervaded every heart, and 
enveloped every surrounding. The momentous question 
of a Declaration of Independence, and of separation from 
the sovereignty of Great Britain, was the consideration of 
the hour. The sustainment of a principle, and of an in- 
alienable right, the issue to be decided. A levy of a few 
farthings tax upon a pound of tea, and the ordaining of an 
act for a simple stamp to be placed on paper — unjustifiably 
enforced, and the spirit which accompanied that enforce- 
ment, was the immediate occasion which led these colonies 
to revolt ; and which, ultimately, inspired them in their 
desire for a distinct nationality. 

THE REASONS FOR REVOLUTION. 

It will not be expected of us, at this time, to enter at 
large into the causes which led to our Revolution, nor at- 
tempt, at length, to describe its scenes and progress. Yet a 



few of the governing motives, and the then attending cir- 
cumstances, we would briefly consider. 

In rolling back the scroll of time to that eventful epoch ; 
in retracing the effects of our present national and social 
privileges to their hallowed beginning in the past, one can- 
not but be impressed with exultant pride and joy, and with 
feelings of highest admiration and respect for the exalted 
character, the heroic virtues, the high ennobled wisdom, 
manifested by the leading actors in those scenes. The 
grosser j^assions of man's nature, those wild, reckless, sel- 
fish impulses, which are oftentimes the mainsprings to revo- 
lutions, innovations, changes and reforms, were either by 
them unfelt, or were subjected to the principles of a calmer 
reason, a broader justice, and a more enlightened con- 
science. They wisely thought, and cautiously considered, 
ere they formed their plans and purposes ; yet when once 
they had conceived them, and then had received them, 
they were carried out with fearless and determined energy. 

But that which is chiefly to be applauded is the ennobled 
si)irit of harmony tliat presided over their councils, and 
sustained and guided their every act. They confided in 
unity of thought and action as the fortress of their 
strength, and not alone to private, individual opinion, how- 
ever plausible or alluring, for they knew, and feared, its 
weakness. The good of country — not of self, was their 
propelling motive; the love of justice and humanity — not 
personal ambition — their abiding principle. They con- 
sidered that true national independence — that genuine, per- 
sonal independence, is ever social. That each mind may 
reflect the rays, though not be within itself, or rather from 
itself, the full sun of public opinion. " Our cause is just, 
our union is perfect." Such was the language which they 
used. 

It was not mere hatred to Great Britain ; it was not the 
fierce passion of revenge ; it was not personal ambition, 
nor, at first indeed, was it the desire for independence, that 
led our fathers to forswear their loyalty. But strong, 
devoted principle, a sterling sense of duty, a hatred of 
oppression, a desire, a fruitless desire, to regain their lost 



& 

and usurped rights and privileges, secured to them by seal 
and charter, and by the law of nature and of nations, as 
colonial subjects of the crown. For mark the spirit of their 
petition to the king: ^^ Place us,'' say they, '"'' Place us in 
situation we were in at the close of the last war, and our for- 
mer harmony will be restored. JVe ask but for peace, liberty 
and safety. We wish not a diminution of the prerogative, nor 
do we solicit the grant of a?iy new right iti our favor. Your 
royal authority over us, and our connection with Great Britain, 
we shall always carefully and zealously endeavor to support and 
maintain.'' 

Strong and many were the cords that bound them to the 
mother country. For to her, mainly, were they indebted 
for their laws, customs, arts, literature and learning. And 
then, too, there were the sacred ties of consanguinity, of 
personal friendships, and of a common language and a com- 
mon religion. And even their national pride and ambition 
would naturally turn to her for favor and reward. 

For how potent, how mighty, then was England ! Re- 
posing and glorying amid the accumulated wealth, and 
pride, and conquests, genius arts and learning, of a thou- 
sand years of time ! A sovereign among the sovereignties, 
to whom all peoples, and nations, and tongues, were taught 
to render homage. A great light of the world, whose rays 
extended to earth's remotest bounds. A nation vicing with 
those of the Orient in her magnificence, and whose martial 
power and resources were unsurpassed in the proudest days of 
ancient Rome, or by the palmiest epochs of renowned Greece. 

It was to that nation, grown arrogant by power, and be- 
come hardened through prosperity, that these people were 
then the subjects, and from whom they were soon to sever 
their allegiance, and against whom they were to battle for 
their rights. It was not until oppression assumed the robes 
of justice, and tyranny trampled upon the vestments of 
liberty and conscience, that our fathers first petitioned for 
their rights, then reasoned, then remonstrated, at last 
threatened and defied. They endured, so lo»g as endurance 
was a virtue, but when that ceased to be, then conscience 
named resistance duty. 

2 



10 

But so long did they forbear ; thus long was with them 
endurance, virtue. Petition had followed upon petition, 
and remonstrance succeeded to remonstrance, and threaten- 
ing and defiance climaxed all. Yet, they fought not then ! 
They were not the aggressors in the scenes that followed. 
No blood was spilt ; no sword unsheathed ; they fought not 
then ! Nay, even when the fields of Lexington, and Con- 
cord, and Bunker's Hill, were strewn with the forms of 
fallen colonists, and the flames had ascended from burning 
Charlestown ; though, at that time brave and earnest resis- 
tance had been made, and scenes of blood had followed, 
yet even then, most would have been loyal still ! They 
sought not, they wished not, revolution; but only the redress 
of grievances, and the safety and return of former rights 
and privileges, secured to them by seal and charter, and by 
the laws of nature and of nations, as loyal subjects of the 
crown. May be, that even then concession, acknowledge- 
ment and restitution would have deferred till later time the 
scenes and results which followed. Once more did they 
petition, and again did they supplicate in vain. 

And now was heard the call, " to arms ! " and the tocsin 
of battle sounded ; while from mountain, hill, and dale 
were echoed forth the indignant shouts : "Resistance to 
Oppression!" "American Liberty ! " " National Inde- 
pendence ! " 

And then on the fourth day of July, in the year one thou- 
sand seven hundred and seventy-six, within the State House 
at Philadelphia, in council were convened, the sages and 
the oracles of the land. While a spectacle most impressive 
and august was presented by that assemblage. And although 
that consumate moral chieftain of all time, George Wash- 
ington, was not there in person, (for he already held the 
position of commander-in-chief of the army,) yet was he 
present in spirit, and with all the fervor of his patriotic 
heart. Still amid that concourse could be witnessed the 
bold hero of the revolution, John Hancock, and those de- 
voted patriots John and Samuel Adams, and Roger Sher- 
man, and Philip Livingston, and Robert Morris, and Richard 
Stockton, and Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson, 



11 

and Edward Rutledge, and Arthur Middleton ; and in short, 
all that galaxy of worthies whose names have since become 
illustrious in connection with those surroundings. But now 
the weight of mighty responsibilities was hanging over that 
council, while its decrees were awaited by thousands with 
breathless expectation. 

Ere long the result of their labors was accomplished. 
They had set forth in written form, their colonial wrongs 
and grievances. They had proclaimed in strong and solemn 
words, their national rights and duties ; in a word, that im- 
mortal instrument was created, so wonderful in its concep- 
tion, so masterly in its execution ; which declares that 
these then colonies "rt;;-^, and of right ought to be, free and 
independent States; that they are absolved fro7n all allegiance 
to the British croton, and that all political connection between 
them and the State of Great Britain, is and of right ought to 
be, totally dissolved." 

That the spirit of this declaration was carried out, and its 
literal intentions fully consummated, let the recorded scenes 
at Bennington, and Saratoga ; at Camden, Monmouth and 
Yorktown, bear witness. And let yonder stately column, 
on Bunker's Hill, in chaste and simple grandeur towering 
heavenward, proclaim to us with silerrt but matchless elo- 
quence. And the trophies and monuments, everywhere 
abounding. And more clearly, fuller, stronger still, the 
scenes which greet us now in all the manifold triumphs of 
this centennial morning. 

A REVIEW OF OUR PROGRESS. 

During the century past the world has been prolific in the 
products of inventive ingenuity and handicraft in all the 
spheres of material advancement, and our national move- 
ments have displayed an onward stride and progress hitherto 
unequalled in the annals of time. When our Declaration 
of Independence was formed, we were a feeble, and, in 
great measure, a dependent people, with little skill in the 
arts and manufactures; with little comparative wealth; and 
with a still undeveloped national influence. Our then larg- 
est seaport towns were not to be named in numerical strength 



12 

and resources, with many of the more moderately sized in- 
land communities of to-day. Our agricultural districts 
were sparsely peopled, while the population of the whole 
thirteen provinces, was only about three million souls. One 
hundred years ago, my friends, and what a different state of 
things was exhibited, not alone on this continent, but through- 
out the whole cizilized world. One hundred years ago and 
many of the more important sciences were still struggling 
in their infancy, while others were unborn. Successful ex- 
periments had been made in some of the minor branches of 
Chemistry; but Geology was just dawning upon the earth. 
And although much had been disclosed of the altitude of 
the stars, and of the movements in the firmament, yet glori- 
ous strides have since been made in the noble science ot 
Astronomy. The steam engine had been invented, but its 
manifold adaptations to the pursuits of man were not yet 
even dreamed of. Franklin had brought the thunderbolt 
from the skies, and held it in his grasp; but it was left till 
later time to make it a messenger of thought at the bidding 
of a child, and to send its fiery essence through a girdle 
round the globe. Photography and the alleviating power 
of the ether vapors were unknown. Enginery, labor-saving 
machinery, and the science of husbandry, little understood. 
And naught was yet revealed of the causes of the changes 
in the atmospheric currents. The implements of the farm 
were those of the crudest, simplest form and contrivance. 
The coarse wooden soil-breaker of the time; the scythe and 
the sickle; the simple hand rake; the primitive flail; the 
winnowing sieve, have since been superseded by the more 
efficient iron plow, the mower and the reaper, the revolving 
horse rake, the threshing machine and the fanning mill. 

One hundred years ago and there were no steam propelled 
palaces beheld entering our river harbors, or moving in ma- 
jestic triumph upon the surface of the seas. There were 
no fiery engine trains racing as if with the fleetness of the 
wind. There were no electric telegraphs forming a net- 
work round the continents in the servitude of man. 

One hundred years ago and there was no gas for lighting 
houses; there were no furnaces for heating houses; there 



13 

were no street cars, no omnibusses. There was no anthra- 
cite coal, no kerosene oil. There was no India rubber 
goods. There were no ice houses, no refrigerators, no po- 
lice officers, no safes, no life insurance companies. There 
were no Sunday schools, no temperance societies, no wo- 
man's right associations. There was no Mt. Cenis tunnel, 
no Thames tunnel, no Hoosg.c tunnel. There were no illus- 
trated fashion plates, by which the latest modes from Paris, 
and other emporiums of toiletry, could be brought to de- 
light the maiden of the wilderness. There were no patent 
baby jumpers yet invented wherein "Young America," even 
in infancy, is inspired " to paddle its own canoe." There 
were no "Old Probabilities" foretelling with greatest ac- 
curacy a fair or rainy bridal morn ; or whether the wooer 
in his triumph shall have a clear or cloudy day for success. 
There were no washing machines in those days. There 
were no sewing machines. There were no International 
Expositions, the glory of the age. 

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 

The manners, forms, customs, tastes, sentiments, and the 
home comforts and surroundings of one hundred years ago 
have all undergone a change. In some instances doubtless 
for their improvement, though perhaps in other things not 
so worthy of our praise. The ancient, stately dignity of 
manner, the oftentime stern precision in the observance of 
ceremonial, and even grace itself, has been superceded by 
that indescribable dash and freedom of movement, that 
dauntless self-possession and aplomb^ crowned by the air 
superb which characterizes the present period. The stern 
authority of parental government, often bearing with it the 
spirit of fear and awe, in a household, to the detriment of 
affection, has been followed by such negligence in such mat- 
ters as leads to an absence of true reverence for authority. 
The repulsive long-faced demeanor of the olden time re- 
ligionist has advanced to the other extreme of too much 
flippancy observed among the devout. " Early to bed, and 
early to rise," with its glorious consequences, was the in- 
junction of our fathers. The convenience of this latter 



14 

age has come to quite an opposite conclusion. Conven- 
tional language has since been greatly modified and improv- 
ed; yet, withal, what a tissue of slang and incorrectness is 
still a modern conversation. 

This subject might be extended indefinitely, but I must 
pass to other themes. 

TRIALS OF THE NATIONS. 

In reviewing the page of history since the epoch of 1776; 
what a drama has been enacted upon the stage of the politi- 
cal world .'' What scenes ! what acts ! what characters ! have 
appeared.'' What havoc ! what slaughtering! what aveng- 
ing wrathfulness ! has at times been exhibited ! The older 
powers of Europe and elsewhere have each in their turn 
had their trials, disasters and triumphs ; some, of less 
earlier prestige, arising to greater fame of position, while 
others — once the more potent — have been shorn of their 
imperial sway. Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, 
Prussia, Turkey, Greece, England, Russia, Holland, and the 
states of Southern America, have all in their governmental 
surroundings, passed through the fiery furnace of affliction. 
The American Revolution was succeeded by the Reign of 
Terror in France — that direst, most ignoble tragedy in the 
annals of time, but which was only to be followed by others 
of similar debasement, that seem to have come, as if they 
were special judgments on that otherwise highly favored 
people. Spain and Italy have had their internal convul- 
sions, which were more or less the throes of greater liberty 
of aspiration. While Russia, and Prussia, have ascended 
in the scale to grander sovereignty and renown. And we, 
too, in America, have had our national trials, and political 
greviances. Without attempting to enumerate them, I need 
only advert to that last, sad epoch in our annals, the late 
civil war, which resulted to the sustainment of our claim, 
as a unity of power, and to the abolition of slavery ; but 
which, withal, was followed by surroundings that are still 
felt, both in their good and evil effects on our institutions 
and character. 



15 

THE UNITED STATES, TO-DAY. 

And now, fellow-citizens, what is the position of this 
country — known as the United States of America — among 
the nations of the world, on this Centennial morning ? 

Calm, serene, undaunted ! she stands forth to-day, an 
equal among the proudest ; bowing to none, yet respected 
by all. She bears a prestige for rapid development unsur- 
passed in history. Her original thirteen colonies have 
augmented into eight and thirty flourishing commonwealths. 
Her three million citizens — of the provincial period — have 
become multiplied into more than forty millions. Her 
peoples are all free ! Her government is still a democracy! 
Her principal towns are only excelled in numerical strength 
by the great capitals of the older world, while cities of 
smaller dimension, yet possessing all the refinements and 
luxuries of the most advanced civilization, are scattered 
across her domains. Her agricultural interests are so am- 
plified and extended, that she is fast becoming as it were 
the storehouse for the feeding of the nations. Hei" mineral 
wealth, her gold, her silver, her iron, her copper, her coal- 
beds, are inexhaustible. Her manufacturing facilities are 
immense, and daily attaining to the most satisfactory 
results. In many branches of handicraft and inventive in- 
genuity, she stands unapproached. Her great merchants 
are renowned throughout the earth. She has originated 
some of the most important of the modern discoveries. In 
the arts of embellishment, in architectural combination, in 
the adaptation of beauty with convenience, utility with har- 
mony of design, her yearly augmenting, palatial structures, 
her temples, capitols, college halls, factories, hospitals and 
many alluring homesides, display an unparalleled advance- 
ment. Her glorious inland lakes and rivers, her fertile soil, 
her boundless prairies, and lofty mountain ranges are the 
admiration of the world. Her railway and telegraphic privi- 
leges, though already manifold, are evermore increasing. 
Her foreign commerce crosses every sea,. blesses every land. 
Her domestic commerce is unequalled on the globe. 

Thus my fellow citizens, stands in material grandeur, 
these United States of America, often styled the "In- 



16 

fant Republic," among the nations of the world, on this 
Centennial morning. 

OUR REPUBLIC A SUCCESS. 

And here we pause, for the question may arise: " Is all 
this apparent prosperity the product of a legitimate, straight 
forward healthfulness of action? And are there not influ- 
ences at work that often lead us to tremble, even in the 
midst of our rejoicing.?" In one word, "has this great ex- 
periment of ours of one hundred years as a Democracy been 
a success or a failure .'' " True, there have been many things 
of late to check us in our career, and make us fearful of the 
consequences. But much of this is the result of peculiar 
local and temporary causes, which the future will disperse. 
There has been undeniably great fraud committed in places 
of high trust; there is a sad want of integrity exhibited in 
community, and a deplorable spirit of extravagance per- 
vades the people, and consequently our financial prosperity 
for a season is depressed. Yet, it should be remembered in 
this connection, that the evil of which we complain is more 
or less the evil of the age, and that from all nations is borne 
to us the cry of dishonesty and corruption. And therefore 
— all things considered — I would unhesitatingly reply: our 
Republican form of government has been, unquestionably, 
a success. And not alone successful in itself, but there is 
strongest reason to believe, that the very existence of our 
democratic institutions have exercised a potent influence 
upon other lands. The co-existence of France as a Repub- 
lic is undoubtedly owing to our American precedent. And 
our example and prosperity have led the peoples of many 
countries to a more just understanding of their natural and 
political rights, and caused a liberal modification of the 
laws, even in the despotic governments themselves. And 
whether as a Republic or not, certainly as a power among 
the nations, it will not be denied that our public expression 
of sympathy and approval was not, to say the least, without 
its moral weight, during the revolt of the South American 
States, against the oppressive policy of Spain in 1818; and 
also in behalf of Greece, in her brave struggle for independ- 



17 

ence in the year 1824. And further, we have been the 
means, through our diplomatic agencies, of bringing to the 
knowledge of mankind, the long hidden treasures contained 
within the colossal empires of China and Japan, and of open- 
ing those important ports to the commerce of the world. 
DEFICIENCY OF GREAT MEN. 
We have hitherto been speaking of the material grandeur 
of our country, but how is it with respect to its moral and 
intellectual standing? For the true glory of a nation con- 
sists, not so much in outward power and magnificence, as in 
the virtue and intelligence of its citizens. 

" Not high raised battlement or labored mound, 

Thick wall or moated gate ; 
Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned ; 

Not bays and broad armed ports, 
Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride ; 

Not starred and spangled courts, 
Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride. 
No ! men, high minded men, 
These constitute a State." 

Now has our rapid stride in the varied spheres of physical 
advancement been at the expense of the higher manhood of 
our people ? And here, I would again say, that whatever 
deficiency we may have shown in this particular, is a defi- 
ciency, not confined to ourselves, but throughout the world 
the momentous question of the hour is: What has become 
of the creative genius of the day ? Where are the supremely 
gifted among mortals, that are to stamp the impress of their 
minds and character upon the times.'' 

The epoch of the American Revolution, and the age 
which followed it, was an era of great moral and intellectual 
potency among the nations in every department of intelle- 
gent action. 

There were giants in those days, my countrymen ! Men 
who are to be famous throughout the coming ages. Poets, 
orators, heroes, statesmen, jurists, divines, historians, philoso- 
phers, philanthropists, physicians, diplomats, composers, 
tragedians, many of them of loftiest endowment, abounded, 
to the pride and admiration of mankind. 

But who are those among the illustrious of to-day, to be 
2 



18 

comjmred with the renowned of that period? How few are 
the acknowledged truly great, now to be found on the face 
of the globe. And how soon counted, the pre-eminent 
among the legislators, that could be mentioned. The six or 
eight prominent living poets, the majority of whom are 
Americans, are all elderly men, who have held the same po- 
sition before the public for the past thirty years that they 
do now. And has any youthful aspirant at the shrine of the 
divine Muse yet appeared worthy to succeed them } Famous 
writers in other branches of imaginative literature have 
adorned the age, but are now departed, leaving us to the 
feebler instructions of their third and fourth rate successors. 
Great jurists and law-givers have arisen even in our genera- 
tion, who were the glory of earth; but where are they now.' 
Conspicuous historians are in our midst; still their produc- 
tions are of too recent a date to admit of our giving them a 
position among the Humes, the Hallams, and the Gibbons 
of an earlier era. Bold thinkers and investigators in the 
abstruse sciences abound, but who among them — in an en- 
larged sense of the term — may lay claim to the title of 
Philosopher, to be ranked with the Bacons, the Newtons, 
and the Gallileos, of the past.? Medicine as a theory, has 
wondrously advanced; but name if you please the world 
famed, living Physicians ? A few gray haired, eloquent and 
worthy men, still linger to adorn the pulpit; yet how much 
of the preaching of to-day is of the simply sensational on 
the one hand, and of the dry and dull on the other. While 
a loud voice comes up from the nations, inquiring: Where 
are the great divines and theologians of the age.' Those 
grand mental gladiators who are to follow in the wake and 
wield the herculean prowess of the Baxters, and Barrows^ 
and Taylors, the Bossuets, the Halls, and Chalmers, and of 
the Wesleys and Channings, of former epochs. 

The only branches of literature in which this age may be 
said to be conspicuous, is in Biography, or the records of 
the lives of the illustrious departed; and in Newspaper jour- 
nalism, that latest born of the intellectual fulcrums of earth. 

MORALITY AND CHRISTIANITY. 
Of the Morality and Christianity of the time I would 



19 

only say, there are doubtless in proportion to numbers of 
inhabitants, more who are members of Christian churches 
than at the date of the Revolution; though moral honesty 
stood many degrees higher at that time than now. There 
are in comparison, perhaps, fewer out-and-out Infidels than 
in those days. And there are by no means so many of 
what may be styled Hypocrits as then appeared. For In- 
fidelity and Hypocrisy are — in a strict sense of the term — 
vices of the past. 

Now, my friends, what is the difficulty with us to-day.'' 
For there is certainly something not altogether right in our 
midst. But if we will look around us, we will perceive 
that though there be fewer decried Infidels than of old, yet 
is there an innumerable class of persons known as doubters, 
or half believers, in society, persons who have no settled 
principles nor convictions, either in faith or morals. While 
on the other hand — and this seems to be the great defect in 
the religion of the times — there are those who aspire, as it 
were, to double sentiments — a two-fold belief. They would 
give, if I may use the expression, a coupled allegiance. 
There are to be found many sincere and earnest Christians 
in all the outward acts of devotion, who, at the same time, 
are striving to serve two masters, — both God and mammon. 
And amid such an inconsistency of affairs, why wonder that 
so many fall. There is too much emotional religion, to the 
neglect of the conscientious. Impulse is not always sus- 
tained by principle. And we frequently see that a man can 
be conspicuous for his fervent prayers of to-day, while on 
the morrow he will be found pilfering his neighbor's safe. 
That he may be a very efficient Sunday school teacher and 
at the same time a sadly dishonorable man. That he can 
become a zealous advocate for some special dogma of be- 
lief, and still be unworthy of the confidence of the com- 
munity. And of late, unfortunately, it too often occurs, 
that a large proportion of what may be called the more re- 
fined crimes of the time are committed by persons of this 
class. 

The spiritual graces cannot flourish to the decay of the 
more solid, material virtues. Christianity is the glorious 
superstructure raised upon the moral decalogue of duty. 



20 

And remember, O Christian teacher and preacher, that if 
the foundation is defective the edifice must totter, and that 
the forms of the obligations of life are manifold, and that 
each requires an advocate and interpreter. • 

The times demand giants in such matters; beings that 
stand forth supervalient ! Like Arctic icebergs facing the 
everlasting hills. 

LOCAL REMINISCENCES. 

Citizens of Schaghticoke : In accordance with the pro- 
ceedings of neighboring communities to-day, we are here 
assembled to cast a few local pebbles into the grand monu- 
mental cairn of this Centennial. And though we may not 
possess the historic jewels which some from other places 
bear, as votive offerings to their country's shrine, yet are we 
not without our own special tokens. Long years before the 
signing of the Declaration of Independence, Schaghticoke 
was a township ; and, indeed, was the only settlement on 
the east of the Hudson, between this place and the city of 
Albany, while within the county of Albany was comprised 
the whole northern portion of the now Siate of New York. 
That section of the town known as "Old Schaghticoke," was 
peopled as early as the year 1707; and during the colonial 
struggles which preceded the war of the Revolution, was 
often invaded by hostile Indians. A fort or block-house 
was erected as a safeguard against those incursions, and 
many families removed with their effects to Albany, thereby 
assuring greater security. Yet, notwithstanding these 
precautions numerous lives were sacrificed to the relentless 
bloodthirstiness of the savage. And it is a matter of his- 
tory, that of the Van Veghten family, both a father and son 
were scalped and massacred by the foe. While tradition 
has borne to us the fact, that when the Indians were seen 
to approach, the female members of a household ensconced 
themselves within the huge ovens of that period, which hap- 
pily, as it would appear, proved glorious hiding places, as it 
never occurred to the enemy to seek for their victims amid 
such seemingly warm resorts. Until quite a recent date, 
several primitive structures were still standing, whose outer 
boards and casements were perforated with bullet holes, and 



SI 

which also bore other memento marks of the ravages of 
that time. 

At the commencement of the Revolution a regiment was 
organized in Schaghticoke, under the auspices of an ances- 
tor of my own, but who afterwards accepting the position 
of General's staff officer, with the rank of Colonel, the com- 
mand of the regiment devolved on Colonel Peter Yates, who 
continued in that capacity — displaying praise-worthy valor 
and chieftainship — during the subsequent battles in and 
about Stillwater. 

It may not be improper, in this connection, to reproduce 
a document relating to that period, the original of which is 
in my possession : 

For the Public Service. 
Capt. yohn Snyder, or the next commanding officer at Tomhanick. 

ScHACTlKOOK, May 30th, 1776. 

Dear Sir : By order of General Ten Broock, it is now become my 
duty, as we do not know how soon the country may call upon us for mili- 
tary service, to earnestly recommend it unto you to use your utmost en- 
deavor with the Company under your command, as well officers as 
privates, that they shall pay due obediance and strictly observe the Rules 
and Orders for regulating the Militia of the Colony of New York, re- 
commended by the Provincial Congress, the 22d day of August, and the 
20th day of December last ; and, in particular, the 6th, 7th and 8th sec- 
tions of said Rules and Orders, and the 5th section of the Appendix to 
the said Rules and Orders. If you or any of your officers have not the 
above printed rules, they may be furnished them by applying unto Math- 
ew Visher, Esq., secretary of the Committee for the City and County of 
Albany. And also, I desire that you furnish me with a list of the Com- 
pany under your command by the 5th day of June next, and inform me 
in what manner the men are equiped as to arms, ammunition and ac- 
coutrements. I am your most truly humble servant, 

John Knickerbacker. 

I will add that the sword which Col. Knickerbacker used 
in those days is still retained by his descendants. 

At the time of the engagement at Stillwater (more gener- 
ally known as the battle of Saratoga,) the hillsides surround- 
ing the at present quiet valley of Old Schaghticoke, were 
often the rendezvous, or resting-place, for the forces on 
their way to and from the scene of action, while the 
ancient fort, or block-house, erected during the Indian in- 
cursions, was taken possession of by a troop of Hessian 



22 

soldiery, in the service of the British, and who were not 
especially scrupulous in their maraudings upon the domains 
of the neighboring inhabitants. 

Though we may not claim the site of the battle-ground 
of Saratoga within the present limits of Rensselaer County, 
yet, as I have before stated, the whole of Northern New 
York, one hundred years ago, was comprised of the County 
of Albany. And our fathers, who lived within only five or 
six miles distant from the scene of the engagement, fought 
not alone for the good of the nation at large, but as well 
for the protection of their homes and property. 

We have among us to-day, many who are the descendants 
of revolutionary patriots. The Yateses, the Ackarts, the 
Quackenbushes, the Vandenburgs, the Vanantwerps, the 
Brats, the Forts, the De Garmos, the Groesbecks, the Van 
Veghtens, the Knickerbackers, all of these names — with 
others — appear on record as persons who within the limits 
of this township were summoned ito duty in the great 
struggle for independence. 

And although not justifying a spirit of arrogance and 
pride, yet it cannot be denied that there is an aroma, as it 
were, proceeding from the influence of such surroundings, 
that at times brings a certain gladness to the heart. To 
tread amid the scenes which our fathers have trodden 
generations before us ; to look upon the same groves and 
hillsides, and meadows decked with green, which greeted 
their vision. To hearken to the echoes from the cliffs, and 
to every nature's voice, as they listed to them, years long 
ere we were born ! To gaze upon the sun in his rising, 
and his setting, and upon the firmament, arrayed in all its 
jeweled night splendor, from the same point of view from 
which our ancestors beheld them, is something, which 
though not strictly American in spirit, is yet, withal, per- 
vaded by an unction that inspires to nobility of aim. 

CONCLUSION. 

And now, fellow-citizens, in conclusion, (and 'tis sad 
there should be a conclusion to such happy surroundings.) 
Having, amid the auspices of to-day, surveyed our country's 
past, from her inception as a Republic to her proud cul- 



23 

mination of a century's growth, and to her present position 
as a nation among the nations ; having witnessed her peer- 
less strides and unparalleled advancement ; having wit- 
nessed also her weaknesses, her shortcomings, and the 
terrible things which at times have encompassed her ; hav- 
ing witnessed some of these in a spirit of pride and exulta- 
tion, and yet others with the solemn awe born of sorrow 
and regret. Having, I say, surveyed this grand panorama 
of the movements of our people, for the last one hundred 
years, from the summit of the rock of this centennial morn- 
ing, we now, like the holy seers of old, turn to gaze upon 
the future. And though the gifts of the prophets' vision 
departed with the divinely inspired of their generation, yet, 
thanks to^all-beneficent Jehovah ! there is still bestowed on 
mortal that wondrous faculty, the imagination, by which he 
may picture things sweet to the conception of his heart's 
wish, though he may not foretell the ordering of events. 

Standing in the midst of such surroundings, surroundings 
supremely felicitous in many respects, and inspiring to the 
emotions of gratitude and praise, though in other things 
polluted as if from the foundation of evil, and appalling 
with horror and dismay. 

Standing in the midst of such surrounding, I would say, 
that though there be much at present to humiliate us as a 
people, and though there be dark shadows seen flitting 
across the otherwise beautiful picture of this ceremonial, 
yet, withal, I am happy to believe that underneath these 
seeming moral excrescences, there exists the elements of 
more exalted characteristics, which though temporarily ob- 
scured amid the pomp of the hour, are taking deeper root 
into the soil, and grasping firmer hold of the lasting found- 
ations of things, and that will ultimately assert their supre- 
macy, to the overthrow of iniquity, and to the purifying of 
the public sentiment. 

There are so many righteous Lots, who have not bowed 
their heads to the idols of corruption. There is still such a 
spirit of the gods, my countrymen, pervading this glorious 
land of ours, that we shall not yet be entirely cast off. 

And I am happy to believe, — and judging from the past, 
we have an encheering criterion for the future, — that should 



24 

hereafter, temporary trial and misfortune befall us as a na- 
tion, there shall be^to meet it a heroism worthy of the bet- 
ter elements of our nature, and that there will be shown a 
bravery, and an elevation of purpose, in behalf of our coun- 
try's sons, and a self-sacrificing disinterestedness of devo- 
tion on the part of her daughters, that will loom out with 
transcendent brightness upon the record- scroll of the lofti- 
est examples of humanity. 

And I am happy to believe that amid the lowering clouds 
of the present may be witnessed the insignia-bow of a rich- 
er promise, while within their fioher linings is portrayed the 
vision of a coming future ; purified, regenerated America, 
crowned with every attribute of the exalted, and looming 
forth as a beacon-light to the nations, and the glory of the 
world. 

And I behold in imagination, on a not far distant dawn- 
ing of this anniversary, the symbol-bird of the nation, yea, 
the spread eagle, (which, ridicule the expression as we may, 
is and will ever be the truest, worthiest type and emblem of 
Columbia,) I behold, in imagination, the spread eagle aris- 
ing from her eyrie here below, exultant as with the pride of 
recent triumphs, immortal ; her outstretched pinions swoop- 
ing toward either pole, and bearing thereon, as oblation- 
boons, the enclustered eaglets of our virtues, rarified into 
celestial graces ; while she soars aloft to greet a responsive 
festival in the skies ! 

And following in the wake which succeeds that move- 
ment ; — yea, even a century hence ! — I seem to hear the 
simple strain with which we greeted this glorious morning; 
caught up and repeated from these surrounding hillsides 
and distant mountain-tops ; and thence borne onward, and 
onward, over forest, and city, and prairie, and lake, and 
river, and strand, and wilderness, Northward ! Southward ! 
Eastward ! Westward ! until it touches the ocean-waves of 
the Atlantic, and of the Pacific ; and the remotest borders 
of our farthest-distant domain ; and hence re-echoed back, 
from every voice of nature, of man, and of living thing, in 
one harmonious and concerted strain — in sublime diapason 
— borne upward to the empyrean : Ever Hail ! grand 
OLD Centennial Day ! 



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